Are 30" monitors too big?

[Warp01]

Now I have a 24".

I'd like to upgrade to a 30". But a friend has told me that it is too much. Two major problems:

a) A lot of light coming into your eyes which is not good for them.
b) You have to turn your head continually to reach the whole screen.

So I would like to have some other opinions.

Regards

 

[VashHT]

I used to use a 37" TV for my monitor, as long as you put it the right distance from your seat it works out fine. I had a huge desk to put my TV on so I was able to sit a few feet from it.

 

[exar333]

No.

 

[konakona]

went from 24'' monitor to a 32'' (1080P) TV. The size feels 'just right'. If anything, I have my monitor placed at just about the THX recommended viewing distance.

 

[RobertR1]

It took some time but now that I'm used to it, I love it. I have a Dell2410 at work and a 3008wfp at home and I certainly prefer my 30inch. The 24 looks and feel quite a bit smaller.

1. Turn down the contrast
2. The head turning issue will go away. You'll naturally adjust to the right distance over time.

 

[NoQuarter]

Now I have a 24".

I'd like to upgrade to a 30". But a friend has told me that it is too much. Two major problems:

a) A lot of light coming into your eyes which is not good for them.
b) You have to turn your head continually to reach the whole screen.

So I would like to have some other opinions.

Regards

a) Just keep ambient light on, in my unresearched opinion it's the contrast that hurts not the amount
b) Sounds like a good way to stop your neck from cramping up!

 

[Zap]

a) A lot of light coming into your eyes which is not good for them.

It isn't the amount of light, but the contrast between the light and a dark room that gives people headaches. Either leave the room light on, or use bias lighting behind the monitor.

 

[AlgaeEater]

Now I have a 24".

I'd like to upgrade to a 30". But a friend has told me that it is too much. Two major problems:

a) A lot of light coming into your eyes which is not good for them.
b) You have to turn your head continually to reach the whole screen.

So I would like to have some other opinions.

Regards

It's not really that bad. Many people will tell you 32" is kinda the "maximum norm" now-a-days since everyone jumped onto the 1080P bandwagon during the time LCD TV's were less than half the price of a 24" monitor. Times have changed now of course.

I had a 24" Samsung before going onto a 32" Vizio. I don't find myself twisting my neck to watch the edges of the screen.

Crutchfield suggests the following distances:

Screen size / Viewing distance range
26" / 3.25 - 5.5 feet
32" / 4.0 - 6.66 feet
37" / 4.63 - 7.71 feet
40" / 5.0 - 8.33 feet
42" / 5.25 - 8.75 feet
46" / 5.75 - 9.5 feet
50" / 6.25 - 10.5 feet
52" / 6.5 - 10.8 feet
55" / 6.9 - 11.5 feet
58" / 7.25 - 12 feet
65" / 8.13 - 13.5 feet
70" / 8.75 - 14.75 feet


Their estimations are kinda safe. I would take the lower recommendation as proper.

 

[shangshang]

24" is great
30" will be domination
she'll thank you for it!

 

[edplayer]

a) A lot of light coming into your eyes which is not good for them.

Do you ever go outside? Cause there is a lot of light outside. Just saying...

 

[kalrith]

went from 24'' monitor to a 32'' (1080P) TV. The size feels 'just right'. If anything, I have my monitor placed at just about the THX recommended viewing distance.

I did the same and love the 32-incher. However, you can't compare a 32" 1080P TV to a 30" 2560x1600 monitor. The latter has double the pixels of the 32" and allows you to sit much closer. I sit about 3.5' from my 32" TV, and I would guess that sitting 2' from a 30" 2560x1600 monitor would be just right.

At 2' from such a large screen, I can understand the OP's concerns, but I think they're unwarranted.

Here are the concerns I would have:

Sitting 2' from a 30" display might be fatiguing
Running games at 2560x1600 will require a lot of gpu power, and running games at the non-native resolution is less than optimal
​

I bought my TV for gaming, hands-down, and I think it's the perfect size for that. If I wanted a larger screen for the sake of more screen real estate (i.e. higher resolution), then a 30" 2560x1600 monitor would've been a better choice (albeit at double the cost).

OP, you should decide if you just want a larger screen because 24" is too small, or if you want the greater screen real estate of the 2560x1600 resolution. If it's the former, then you'd probably be better served by a 32" 1080P TV.

 

[valnar]

Personally, I wouldn't need to keep upgrading to a bigger monitor if they didn't keep shrinking the vertical size.

 

[kalrith]

Personally, I wouldn't need to keep upgrading to a bigger monitor if they didn't keep shrinking the vertical size.

They came to your house and shrank the vertical size of your monitor, which required you to upgrade to a bigger monitor? It's magic, I tell you!

You don't need to upgrade to a bigger monitor unless you're dissatisfied with the one you already have. Monitor's don't shrink overnight. However, I guess that you mean something along the lines of having to replace a 20" 4:3 monitor with a 25" 16:9 monitor to get the same vertical size.

But since you don't "need" to upgrade your monitor in the first place and a new 25" 16:9 monitor costs half of what a 20" 4:3 monitor did 5 years ago, I'm not really getting your reason for complaining.

 

[tommo123]

ilove my 30" dell, it's right next to my 42" LCD tv but has far better image quality. presumably due to the panel

 

[ZimZum]

No, Im waiting for them to come out even larger monitors. I think 35"-37" would be ideal for me. And no, I dont want an HDTV. I want a proper monitor.

 

[Munky]

No. I got a 27" now, and wouldn't want to go back to anything smaller.

 

[Childs]

I use a 30" Cinema Display at work, and recently bought a U2711 for home. At first 30" seemed to big, but I've added a 20" in portrait mode to that setup. The U2711 at home seems fine, but I will probably pick up another one if I find a good deal. You will adapt, and probably want more. You should go to an Apple/Dell store and look at the monitors first.

 

[Hauk]

Do you ever go outside? Cause there is a lot of light outside. Just saying...

40 inches here and loving it..

 

[tommo123]

i;m kinda hoping some day for a 42" + tv with 2560x1600 res

that would be nice

 

[toyota]

i;m kinda hoping some day for a 42" + tv with 2560x1600 res

that would be nice

a tv is not going to be 16:10. they are going to be 16:9 or wider. you can get a 21:9 2560x1080 tv but for actual tv watching you will have black bars on the sides for 90% of content. I think that something like a 32inch 2560x1080 monitor would be cool for gaming. it would be a nice wide fov without having to fool with multiple monitors.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

If you're worried about size, and depending on your priorities (gaming or other). This 27" may be a good compromise: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...4&sku=224-8284

I think 16:9 is ideal for gaming (obviously is for movies). 16:10 would be ideal for "other".

 

[0roo0roo]

no such thing as too big. any bigger and they are no longer monitors which is the issue, the pixel density of hd doesn't suffice, which is why 30" monitors are 2x hd.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

no such thing as too big. any bigger and they are no longer monitors which is the issue, the pixel density of hd doesn't suffice, which is why 30" monitors are 2x hd.

2560x1600 is twice the resolution of 1280x800. 1920x1080 x2 would be 3840x2160. Or did I do that wrong?

 

[n7]

2560x1600 is twice the resolution of 1280x800. 1920x1080 x2 would be 3840x2160. Or did I do that wrong?

In terms of pixels, 2560x1600 is nearly double the pixels you'd see in 1080p.
4,096,000 vs. 2,073,600


Picture example:

1920x1080

2560x1600

Oh, & HELL NO, 30" is not too big.
It's best PC-related big purchase i have ever made, by FAR.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

2560x1600 is twice the resolution of 1280x800. 1920x1080 x2 would be 3840x2160. Or did I do that wrong?

You did it wrong. 1280x800 is 4 times the pixel count, and 1920x1080 is just over half the pixel count of 2560x1600.

no such thing as too big. any bigger and they are no longer monitors which is the issue, the pixel density of hd doesn't suffice, which is why 30" monitors are 2x hd.

But there is such thing as too small. And that's why I haven't gone with a 30" yet; I'm concerned that I'd have to sit further away to be able to encompass the whole monitor without turning my head, but then because of the resolution the text would be too small to see properly...